Becoming a Vet Tech 101
When I tell people what I do for a living the most common response I hear is “That is so cool”. And it is. My job is challenging, interesting, inspiring, and simply awesome. So you may be thinking “How do I get to be a veterinary technician?” Well, this blog post is all about becoming a veterinary technician.
Veterinary technicians are the nurses of the vet world. Our education is typically 2-4 years at an AVMA accredited program, depending on whether you would like to have an Associates (2 year) or a Bachelor’s (4 year) degree. 2-year programs are more common and most cities and/or state community colleges have an AVMA accredited veterinary technician program. Admission for the program will vary from school to school, but like with other A.A. and B.S. degrees you can be accepted straight from high school and many technicians do. Once you are finished with your program, you are eligible to sit for the VTNE, Veterinary Technician National Exam, aka the boards. Passing this exam will make you eligible to become a licensed technician. Some states have other requirements, such as a second test or a background check, to become licensed. Each state has a different title for these technicians. In Tennessee, we have Licensed Veterinary Medical Technicians, LVMT. In other states we are Registered Veterinary Technician, RVT, Licensed Veterinary Technician, LVT, Certified Veterinary Technicians, CVT. Some states have started switching over to using veterinary nurses, the term used in the rest of world and one that more accurately describes our profession.
So you have your degree, passed your boards, and got your license, now what? Well, one of the perks of becoming a veterinary technician is it is a very versatile job. You are able to work with dogs and cats only in a private practice, emergency clinic, specialty clinic, or animal shelter. You are able to work with large animals on farms. You are able to work with exotics in private practice or in zoos. You could work with wildlife or laboratory animals. Licensed veterinary technicians are in high demand. If you choose to specialize you could advance your career by getting a VTS in a specialty field like anesthesia, behavior, oncology, zoo, or dentistry. This profession really allows you to find what you are passionate about and have a rewarding career.
Here in Chattanooga, our veterinary technician program is at Chattanooga State Community College. They are partnered with us to have their students come out to assist with our annual spider monkey physicals.
This gives them the opportunity to see what zoo veterinary medicine is like and a chance to use their skills in a real examination.
It’s a rewarding partnership for both the school and the zoo to help train the next group of veterinary technicians. - Lacey Hickle, Veterinary Technician at the Chattanooga Zoo
Dentals!
February is National Pet Dental Health month!
“Dental Health is important for many reasons. The most obvious is that dental abscesses, loose teeth, and bleeding gums hurt and we want to alleviate pain whenever possible. The less obvious reason is that tartar (the hard stuff on the teeth) is composed of bacteria. This chronic infection can cause heart disease, kidney disease, and insulin resistance.” - Dr. Anthony Ashley
Dental health is very important for your pets’ overall health, and is essential for keeping our animals at the zoo healthy, too. At every routine animal exam, our veterinarian examines the animal’s mouth for signs of tartar buildup, periodontal disease, broken teeth, or other abnormalities. When needed, we clean our animals’ teeth while they are under anesthesia. Placing our animals under anesthesia ensures safe teeth cleaning procedure and allows us to further explore their mouths. Most dental diseases occur below the gum line and anesthesia allows us to do a full exam and detailed cleaning on them.
Our keeper staff also plays a big role in maintaining the oral health of our animals. Many of our zookeepers, like Keeper Jamie, have trained their animals to open their mouths wide on command, allowing us to check their teeth and mouths regularly. This is especially important for animals like our Jaguars, who have had issues with their teeth in the past. Our jaguars, Jean and Phil, have both had root canals in the past, so it is very important for us to orally exam them often. Chimpanzees have mouths similar to humans and benefit highly from regular teeth cleaning. Keeper Katie has trained several of our chimps to allow her to brush their teeth and to open their mouths for examination. Next month we will be performing routine examinations on our chimpanzees and will be able to get an up-close look at their teeth and mouths.
Mammals aren’t the only ones that need to have oral exams. During annual exams, we check the mouths of our birds and reptiles, too. In the wild birds wear down their beaks on rocks and food, but in human care, they don’t always wear them down as routinely, so occasional beak trims are needed. A quick trim is very much like trimming fingernails and can often be done while they are awake. Just like with mammals, training is very important to help provide the best care for the birds.
The next time you are visiting the zoo, be sure to stop by our animal training offered that day to see our animals opening their mouths on command and learn more about how we work to ensure their overall health!
What in the tech?
Hello! My name is Lacey. I am the Assistant Curator and one of the Veterinary Technicians here at the Chattanooga Zoo!
Over the next year, I will be writing about several zoo veterinary topics. For my first blog post, I thought I would introduce myself and talk to you about what a veterinary technician does. In the most straightforward terms, a veterinary technician is a nurse that works with veterinarians and animals. In many parts of the world, vet techs are actually called veterinary nurses. Most veterinary technicians went to a special program for training as a vet tech, took a national board test, and became licensed in their state. In Tennessee, we have Licensed Veterinary Medical Technicians, LVMT.
The primary job of a vet tech is to assist the veterinarian and to provide vet care for their patients. Here at the zoo, that is primarily what I do. I help with assessing sick or injured animals, monitoring anesthesia, drawing blood, examining fecal samples for parasites, restraining animals for exams, administering medications, maintaining accurate vet records, and talking to keepers about the health and welfare of their animals. So keep checking back this year to learn about the vet department and what it is like to be a zoo vet tech!
Happy National Zookeeper Week!
This week is a pretty special week for many zoos & aquariums across the country. It’s a chance for us to celebrate and show our appreciation for all of our wonderful zookeepers. Here at the Chattanooga Zoo, we’ve had a generously donated lunch for our zookeepers, our Zoo Campers have made thank you cards for our animal care staff, and we’ve hosted an after-hours zookeeper hangout with free pizza and a slip & slide. Hopefully, you’ve followed along on our social media as we’ve given shoutouts to the different animal care departments, but if not it’s not too late to share your words of appreciation for our animal care staff!
5 Reasons to Be Excited for Q’ n Brew 2017
There are so many reasons to be excited about the Chattanooga Zoo’s signature summer event. Whether this is your first time or you’ve been coming for years, Q’ n Brew is summer fun for the whole family. If you love animals, BBQ, brews, bluegrass, or even relaxing with friends, Q’ n Brew is the place for you. Since Q’ n Brew is only a week away we decided to pick our top 5 reasons we’re excited for our favorite summertime event!
Last month, two of our chimpanzees, Artimus and Brandy, received echocardiograms, and we are happy to announce that the results showed great heart health! Dr. Warren, M.D., cardiologist at the Chattanooga Heart Institute, reporteded that all results of the EKGs and blood work were within normal range. The Chattanooga Zoo has partnered with Dr. Warren and the Chattanooga Heart Institute to check our chimpanzee’s heart health for 6 years now, with this year being the first year to perform a 3D echocardiogram.
Heart disease is the number one cause of death in chimpanzees living in captivity, so we are happy to be able to form these partnerships in order to provide the best care we can for our resident chimpanzees. We are very thankful for Dr. Warren, CHI Memorial, UTK Vet School, and our animal care staff for their contributions in keeping our chimpanzees healthy!
As a proud participant of the Great Ape Heart Project, we will be sending the EKG reading to Zoo Atlanta for research for this ongoing project. The Great Ape Heart project seeks to research strategies to understand and treat cardiac disease in the ape species. For more information on this project, check out: https://greatapeheartproject.org/
Ever wondered what the Chattanooga Zoo animals eat? Learn all about animal nutrition through our interview with two of the Chattanooga Zoo’s nutrition experts!
Animal Nutrition is so important, and our Zoo Staff puts top priority on making sure that animals here at the Zoo are healthy, happy, and eating just as well (if not better) than you do at home! Aubrey Routledge, the Zoo’s Nutritionist and Wildlife Rehabilitation Specialist as well as Lacey Hickle, the Zoo’s Veterinary Technician\Registrar and Animal Care Manager answered some questions on the topic, check out their answers below!
Q: Who prepares the food for each animal at the Zoo?
AR: The Nutritionist on staff is responsible for making all the diets for the animals. In our case, that job falls unto me (Aubrey Routledge). However, there are staff members such as Hillacy Shadwick and Rebecca St. George that are in there part time to help out. We also have a volunteer who helps prep the diets twice a week.
Q: What sorts of foods do Chattanooga Zoo animals eat?
LH: With such a varied collection of animals, our animals eat a wide variety of food from fruits and vegetables to raw meat and mice to species specific dry complete diets. The dry complete diets are typically Mazuri brand and are formulated for the specific nutritional needs of each species. For example, our Spider Monkeys (New World Primate biscuits), Langurs (High Fiber Sticks), and Mangabeys (Primate Maintenance biscuits) even though they are all primates they get different types of biscuits in addition to their produce to meet their specific requirements.
Q: How much food do Chattanooga Zoo animals eat?
LH: We use several tons of meat, produce, and dry complete diets each month. For example, our troop of Chimpanzees eat about 80 pounds of dry primate biscuits weekly in addition to their produce. And our pair of Jaguar brothers eat about 70 pounds of meat diet weekly.
Q: Where does the food come from?
AR: We use a produce company called T&T Produce. Several restaurants in the area use this company. We wanted to ensure that our animals are getting really good/fresh produce. T&T allows us to do that.
Q: When do the animals eat?
AR: It depends on the species and what kind of eating habits they require. If they are nocturnal then they will get their food in the PM before we close. If diurnal, then they will receive the diet in the AM. Some mammals, however, can be fed twice a day. For instance, the primates will be fed twice a day, because in the wild primates will forage for their food for the majority of their day. Since we want to simulate that behavior, primates usually require at least 2 feedings per day.
Q: Do any of the animals have a ‘favorite’ food?
AR: Absolutely. Olive, the sloth, loves red delicious apples. Amir, the African porcupine, loves sweet potato. The spider monkeys love limes. Artie, the chimp, loves bok choy. Those are just to name a few!
LH: For our herbivores and omnivores grapes, apples, and bananas are a common favorite. For our large cats, like Tankh the Snow Leopard, chunks of beef fresh from the grocery store are his favorite. Each animal has their own preferences just like we do. However, they still get offered a wide variety of items in their diet to keep them healthy.
Q: How do you encourage natural behaviors through food nutrition?
AR: The goal for food isn’t just to give them the required nutrients. We also have to make sure that we are keeping those innate behaviors stimulated. For instance, the primates are foragers by nature. So, the diet is tossed into the exhibit so they have to go find it. We have to cut the pieces of produce small enough so it can scatter easily and they can go look for their food. We also tend to keep peels on foods. This can help the animal manipulate the food item to get the portion of the food that they want. If we took the peel off of everything then the animal could just scarf down the food without having to “work” for it. It just helps keep natural behaviors stimulated.
Q: Is there anything that folks reading the article should know about animal nutrition?
AR: Each animal has a specified diet to meet their requirements and every diet is weighed out to the gram. We like to ensure that the animal is getting the necessary nutrients for their specific species and needs. Therefore, nutrition is constantly changing in order to meet the needs of a certain animal. Nutrition isn’t just chopping fruits and vegetables– it’s being mindful of what you are giving each animal and how much. You also have to think about each individual animal and when you prepare 100+ diets, it can be daunting!
LH: The nutritional needs of each species varies and can often be very particular. Kinkajous our closely related to coatis and raccoons and while their diets are similar kinkajous in the wild and here eat more fruit and less protein. Certain leafy greens are great for some lizards but too much can be toxic to other lizards based on their nutritional content. Exotic animal nutrition is complex and there is a lot we are still learning about their diets both in the wild and in zoos.
Q: Why is animal nutrition important?
AR: Food is essential to life and we want to make sure we are giving the animals the best life possible. So, we have to make sure we are giving them the best care– nutrition plays a huge part in that. We have to make sure we are giving them not only what they like, but also what they need so they have the can thrive here at the Chattanooga Zoo.
LH: There are a lot of illnesses, especially in exotic mammals and reptiles, that can be prevented with good nutrition. Primates and Capybara for example, like humans, get their Vitamin C only from their diet. Ensuring they get a complete biscuit diet as well as fruits, like oranges, daily will help keep them healthy for many years.
As you may notice, our Zoo animals are very well taken care of! Animal nutrition is more complex and time consuming than you may have imagined, but it is of the utmost importance to our Animal Care staff here at the Chattanooga Zoo. Just like you and your family, the food that our Zoo animals eat is specifically designed for them to keep them healthy, happy, and strong! If you would like to volunteer with us in the Nutrition Center at the Zoo send an email to: volunteer@chattzoo.org.
The Chattanooga Zoo is excited to announce the opening of our new culinary experience, Wild Burger!
Wild Burger serves gourmet burgers, hand breaded chicken tenders, crisp salads, fresh turkey wraps, and much more.
Additionally, Dippin’ Dots stands have opened throughout the Zoo that serve six flavors of Dippin’ Dots, cotton candy and refreshments.
Currently, Wild Burger is open on the weekends and nice weather days until the summer, when we will extend our hours. Call 423-697-1322 for more information.
Snow Leopard’s Greatest Enemy: Climate Change
The Chattanooga Zoo is a proud sponsor of the Snow Leopard Trust (SLT), an organization dedicated to protecting the endangered snow leopard and its habitat. Each year we donate monetary gifts for much needed items used during in-field research to observe snow leopards and their habitats. The photos above are some of the photos that were captured of wild snow leopards by the camera purchased with funds from the Chattanooga Zoo donated.
Over the last several years, snow leopards have faced massive declines in the wild population. Snow leopards were placed on the endangered species list in 1972 and have slowly decreased in population since. As of today, there are between 4,080 and 6,590 snow leopards left in the wild, and little is known about these elusive creatures.
Researchers have been tracking snow leopards for years, using cameras like the one donated to the SLT by the Chattanooga Zoo. The SLT allows researchers to track and observe all ages of snow leopards to learn all about their naturalistic behaviors, their eating habits, where they reside, and how often they breed.
By gathering this data researchers can determine the cause of the species decline and how we can help them. Humans are one of the biggest threats to snow leopards. Between poaching and farmers killing to defend their livestock, snow leopards are killed by humans than any other living predator.
The SLT has made great strides within communities to educate locals on the importance of protecting this species. This organization works to gain the trust of the local communities in order to educate them on the importance of protecting the snow leopard and creates solutions to issues caused by these animals. Farmers are taught how to build enclosures that keep their livestock in, and snow leopards out, and women and children are taught to make jewelry, trinkets, shoes, and other merchandise to sell for a living. The SLT pays these locals for their work on creating this merchandise and it is sold in AZA accredited Zoo gift shops all over the United States, including at the Chattanooga Zoo.
Unfortunately humans aren’t the only threat to these cats. Climate change is arguably the biggest threat. With decreasing temperatures worldwide, snow lines are receding, forcing snow leopards to relocate farther north. Vegetation and wildlife become more scarce at higher elevations, making it harder for snow leopards to find food. Researchers suggest that as much as 50% of the current snow leopard habitat will be lost to the shrinking of the alpine zone in the Himalayas.
This climate change is not only driving snow leopards to relocate, but many other animals as well. Cameras placed on a Tibetan plateau discovered common leopards living in the same habitat as snow leopards. This footage is the first evidence of leopards living among snow leopards. Common leopards are not listed as an endangered species, but can cause another threat to the decreasing snow leopard population.
Professor Sandro Lovari, from the University of Siena in Italy conducted a separate study in Nepal’s Everest region. The results were the same as the STL’s findings that climate change is the snow leopard’s biggest enemy. “Snow leopards could be squeezed between the barren land of the higher parts of the mountain and the upward moving tree line,” said Lovari.
Snow leopards are not the only animals whose populations are rapidly decreasing because of climate change. Scientists estimate that 150-200 species of plant, insect, bird and mammal become extinct every 24 hours. Unless we make drastic effort to conserve our planet, then one day you will have to visit a museum to see some of the world’s most exotic animals.
How can you help?
You can help support the Snow Leopard Trust and snow leopards in the wild by donating and purchasing merchandise from the Snow Leopard Trust. Another way you can help is by supporting the Chattanooga Zoo and other AZA accredited Zoos who house snow leopards by purchasing admission or a Zoo membership. A portion of our net profit goes directly towards our conservation efforts including snow leopard conservation each year. Learn more about our conservation efforts at www.chattzoo.org/about/conservation.
Spring Break Zoo Camp 2017
This year the Chattanooga Zoo is offering two weeks of
Spring Break Camp! Registration is now open for children in Kindergarten through 5th grade.
The first week of camp is Monday, March 20th through Friday, March 24th.
The second week of camp begins on Monday, April 3rd and ends Friday, April 7th.
Campers can expect a WILD time learning about the Zoo’s most exotic animals. Camp begins at 9:00am and ends at 3:00pm each day. Aftercare is available!